Four Times Torchwood Discovers Ianto's an Immortal
by Rhianona
Summary: au, highlander fusion. Ianto is an immortal. Four times TW discovers this, and one time they don't. Slight Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys. Warning: explicit descriptions of torture & execution in parts 2 & 4.


_Disclaimer: Torchwood, Doctor Who and Highlander don't belong to me._

_Fusion with Highlander; things to know in this au verse: Ianto is several thousand years old, Lisa Hallet was his student, Daniel Jackson from SG-1 was also his student. non-explicit Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys. Spoilers through Journey's End and Exit Wounds_

_**Warning: **Parts 2 and 4 offer graphic descriptions of torture and execution. If you don't want to read it, skip ahead._

I. The gun goes off…

Jack curses as the space whale - as good a name as any - flails in anger and fear, the cables holding it still creaking ominously, before a loud thwap signifying the snapping of its restraints. "Tosh!" he calls out as he grabs and throws her towards the wall, shielding her from the suddenly freed alien. He takes stock of his people, and curses as he sees Gwen completely focused on her fiancée, while Ianto fights with one of the fools involved in this scheme. Somehow, his lover has managed to get free from his bonds, and grapples with the man for possession of the gun the other holds.

"Owen! What's your status?" he asks. They need to sedate the space whale before someone got hurt. Well, someone other than Rhys. Not for the first time, he curses his weakness in allowing Gwen to bring Rhys into this mission. From the start, Gwen's mind has focused on Rhys, on keeping him safe. And Jack understands that - really, he does. But, her worries have no place on a Torchwood operation. He needs her to pay attention to her surroundings and not to the well-being of her fiancée.

"God damn it, Gwen! Help Ianto!" he orders, as once again the whale rolls to the side, preventing him and Tosh from moving to aid the other man. Gwen, however, ignors Jack, intent on stopping the bleeding from Rhys' bullet wound.

"Owen!" Jack calls again.

"I'm working on it, Jack!" the doctor replies over the comm. Jack shares a look with Tosh.

"We need to get away from this wall and help Ianto." She nods in understanding. Good old Tosh, who understands what needs to be done, and doesn't ask him pointless questions, or fight with him over every _single_ decision. "On three."

They dodge the cables and other detritus that the whale flung around in its panic and fear, heading towards where Ianto struggles. Gwen, Jack notes, has her hands pressed over Rhys' shoulder and covers his body with her own. "How's he doing?" he asks her, as they finally reach her side; Tosh drops to her knees and bends to examine Rhys' wound. Next to Owen, she has the most medical training. And Owen still remains AWOL. Jack just hopes he arrives in time to help the whale.

Ianto, still locked in struggle, has managed to get his hands on the gun the two are fighting over. Jack is heading towards them, when the other manages to knock Ianto to the ground. And before Jack can scream in defiance, the man aims the gun at Ianto's head and pulls the trigger.

The shot sounds loud in the room, the noise seeming to overpower the moans of the frenzied whale seeking to escape its bounds, and the shouts and screams of the girls. Jack flinches; time seems to slow and he watches as if from a distance as he answers that shot with his own. He aims true, and the man collapses to the ground, next to Ianto. Jack has no awareness as he chants "no," as Tosh and Gwen call out to him, call out to Ianto. He falls to his knees next to his lover and cradles him in his arms. Tears fall from his eyes; he ineffectually tries to wipe the blood from Ianto's face, stoically ignoring the gore that makes up the back of Ianto's head.

"Not fair," he whispers. "Ianto. Please."

It's too soon, their relationship too new, for this to happen. They have had only one date; Ianto has only recently started to let Jack back into his life. It's not fair, not after the year-that-never-was. And now this; Ianto shot dead by a fucking punk kid who wants to make a quick buck by torturing another sentient creature. He turns hate-filled eyes towards the guy he shot; glad he's already dead. Jack doesn't trust his self-control if he hadn't already been so.

He has always known Ianto would die before him; would, in all likelihood, die young - Torchwood employees rarely live to receive a pension. But he has also assumed they would have a few years to enjoy whatever developed between each other - something to which he has looked forward to whilst on the _Valiant_. He has clung to the idea, eager to explore something deeper and more meaningful than what they had had before he had left with the Doctor.

And now, he would never have that chance.

"Oh jeez…" he hears Owen say. The doctor doesn't even try to take care of Ianto; he can see there's no point in doing so. Instead, he heads towards Rhys. Dimly, Jack is aware that the whale's moans have been silenced and assumes that Owen has done something. He knows he should make sure that none of the other men involved in this operation would remember any of what they did; knows he should focus on finishing the mission, but he honestly can't. Instead, he just holds Ianto to him.

Jack doesn't know how many minutes have passed, when Owen gently shakes him by the shoulder. He looks up, in a daze, wondering what the other man wants.

"Jack, we should start the clean up," he says softly. Oddly polite for the usually acerbic man. Jack just stares at him blankly. "Rhys needs medical attention. Gwen stopped the bleeding, but…"

"Right," Jack finally says. His mind struggles to figure out the necessary steps to cleaning up this site. A job usually for Ianto. "Right. Owen, you can take care of Rhys back at the Hub. What about the… um whale?"

Owen shakes his head carefully. "It was too far gone. I'm sorry, Jack."

Jack swallows the harsh bite of disappointment. They didn't even save the alien. What a completely fucked up mission. The alien: dead; Rhys: shot; and Ianto: dead. He closes his eyes. He doesn't know if he's strong enough to do what he needs to do. "We'll burn the building. Destroy the alien… the evidence." He sighs. Bending his head, he brushes his lips against Ianto's forehead. "I'm so sorry," he murmurs softly. With great reluctance, he gently lays Ianto on the ground. He stands to his feet and glances around. Frowns as he doesn't see Tosh. "Where's Tosh?" he asks.

"She's making sure there isn't anyone around here that we missed," Owen replies.

Jack smiles sadly. Looks like at least part of his team can pick up the slack when he needs them to. "Okay, when she gets back, we'll finish up here."

Owen hesitates for a moment, as if he has something to say. In the end, he merely grasps Jack's arm, squeezing it in sympathy. Jack nods. He understands what the doctor means.

"Gwen, get Rhys back to the van."

"Jack, I'm so sorry!" she tells him. "I should have-"

"Stop. Gwen. We're not doing this here. Just stop. Get Rhys to the van." Jack has no desire to actually deal with whatever excuse she has for her actions today. He wonders if it would be better to just retcon her. He turns away from her, refusing to watch as she helps Rhys out of the warehouse. Owen, he notes, has taken the time to move the head operator's body closer to the whale. Tosh comes back in soon after.

"I took care of the others. Retconned them back to their childhood," she reports, her voice harsh with tears. Jack pulls her into a one-armed hug, holding her to him. "Oh God, Jack!" she sniffs. "I can't believe…" He just pulls her closer. He knows what she means.

"Let's bring him home," he finally says after a few moments. She nods into his shoulder. Owen appears next to them, holding a tarp. Not the cleanest thing here, but enough to help them get Ianto back to the Hub, where they can clean him up, before committing his body to the Vault. Jack doesn't even want to think about it.

It happens as he helps Owen place Ianto on the tarp. A gasp, followed by a sharp inhale, and then blue eyes open. "Ugh…" Ianto moans, startling both Owen and Jack enough that they drop him to the ground. "Ow," Ianto comments, bringing a hand to the back of his head.

"What the fuck?!" Owen curses. Tosh sobs, and Jack finds himself staring in the hazy blue eyes of his lover.

"You were dead," Jack whispers. "How are you alive?"

Ianto closes his eyes for a moment, before meeting Jack's gaze. "Right. Um… I'm Immortal."

II: After Canary Wharf…

The Brig brings it to Jack's attention. He rings the leader of Torchwood-Three, as the representative of several "interested parties." He refuses to disclose who exactly comprises that group, but Jack doesn't push him too hard. Suzie asks him why - after all, they're Torchwood, and the Brig, for all his accolades, is UNIT. The rivalry between the two organizations is legendary.

"He didn't have to tell us," Jack simply says. Suzie doesn't understand Jack's reasoning, but quickly falls in line, helping to plan the incursion into the Top Secret UNIT base.

"Alright, here's the situation," Jack announces. "UNIT captured an employee of Torchwood-One, at the Battle of Canary Wharf. They claimed he was an alien, and spirited him away from the site. Unfortunately for them, someone saw them do this - and this person has apparently been working with the Brig, in addition to some other associates to free him," he pauses, letting his words sink in to his operatives. Suzie notes that Owen looks as if he's actually paying attention, and Tosh has a tight look about her face. But then, she is intimately aware of what it's like as a UNIT prisoner. "The Brig told me that this site is super hush-hush. Expect resistance, subdue them as you can. We're going in, not just because the Brig asked us to. This guy is Torchwood. And even if he was Torchwood-London, we don't allow our people to be treated like he apparently is. One of the Brig's associates compiled this file for us: video footage of our captive; his personnel file; and most importantly, a schematic of the base."

The footage the Brig sent them is disturbing. Suzie watches as Jack's hands form into fists, as the UNIT personnel casually disemboweled the young man, ignoring his screams of pain. Even Owen has paled as the torture - for it truly is that - continues, the calm, professional reporting of the actions at stark contrast with the horrific visuals. Yet, despite everything visited upon the man, he heals, sometimes before their eyes. Suzie finds herself fascinated by it, wondering about the how and why of his healing abilities.

"Are you sure he's human?" Owen voices the question they all have.

"Does it matter, Owen?" Tosh asks sharply before Jack can respond. "No one deserves to be treated like that."

Owen shrugs. "I'm just saying…" he mutters.

"Tosh is right," Jack announces, voice tight with some emotion Suzie can't identify. It doesn't matter to her. If Jack wants them to go in, free this guy, and destroy the base, well… she has no complaints. She doesn't have the hatred for UNIT that Tosh has, but she doesn't mind getting one up over the other agency. If Jack has received the go-ahead from the Brig to destroy the base, and it's as… questionable as Jack has seemed to imply, that means that the technology located there would become Torchwood property - and that means she would have some new toys to play with.

"When do we go?" Suzie inserts. She has no desire to listen to her colleagues bicker over the smallest things. Of them all, she probably knows Jack the best - or at least, she can read him the best. And he's upset - more than usual really, and she wonders at that. But, she mentally shrugs; it doesn't really matter. Jack would let his anger aid him in their endeavor, ensuring that they succeeded.

"Tomorrow. The base is located outside of Cardiff," he sounds annoyed. Probably because UNIT has set up such a clandestine base so close to Jack's own base of operations. It certainly makes Suzie wonder what UNIT has scampered off with that would have gone to Torchwood, had they found it first. They had gone a number of Rift alert runs, only to find nothing after arriving at the location designated by the Rift program.

They spend the rest of the afternoon learning the layout of the base, and determining their course of action in the morrow. Nothing more complicated than memorizing the best routes for infiltrating and finding the man: one Ianto Jones; Suzie examines the blueprints looking for where to place the charges for complete destruction of the base.

"We're not leaving them a chance to take it back again," Jack asserts. "We'll take what we find, make sure nothing too important is left, that everyone is out, and then we'll blow it."

Suzie smiles a dark and giddy grin. She loves when she gets the chance to blow things up; Jack does not let her do so often enough for her liking.

—-

Suzie shakes her head at the lax security UNIT employs at this base. It didn't take Three very long to subdue the guards at the entrance of the base, or to spread out and ensure the remainder of the soldiers join their fellows at the front entrance, handcuffed and sedated. They have managed to find the majority of the soldiers, with Suzie and Tosh marking doors, which seem to contain potentially interesting technology they want to take back with them to the Hub. Jack has pretty much told them they should take what they want - but has also warned them that anything they don't take, would be destroyed, along with the base. He figures that too many of the objects likely held in the base iare/i held in the base because of their questionable natures.

"Normally, I would just let the base stand, let the Brig reclaim whatever's in here and be done with it," Jack explains. "But, I don't trust UNIT, not after seeing what they're doing to Jones. They're as bad as One was!" UNIT's loss is Torchwood - and Suzie's - gain.

Jack leads the way down the corridor to the room where Jones is supposed to be held. They had not yet found all the personnel supposedly stationed at the base, so they proceed with caution. And then they hear the scream of pain, and Jack rushes forward. Suzie follows, covering Jack and cursing him for his predilection of running ahead without waiting for backup. She sometimes wonders if he thinks he's immortal, the way he so rarely acts with the caution he insists the rest of his team take.

By the time they have caught up with Jack, he has already kicked down the appropriate door, and subdued the men inside. "Shit," Owen mutters as he pushes his way towards the man on the table. His chest has been spread open, instruments holding the skin and muscle aside for whatever macabre reason they had. Owen doesn't spare anyone any further attention, as he quickly goes about examining Jones. Suzie breathes through her nose, trying to stifle her gag reflex. She has seen some pretty disturbing things in her time with Torchwood; but this? She has trouble comprehending the actions of these men on a sentient being.

"Suzie, Tosh, I want you to wipe the computers, make sure nothing remains about whatever they were doing to this guy," Jack orders, his voice tight with anger. Suzie shivers. She wouldn't want to be in UNIT's shoes at this moment.

It doesn't take long to secure the rest of the base. Tosh opts to stand guard over the detained UNIT soldiers, having called the Brig and telling him they're ready for pick up and transport to someplace Suzie doesn't want to think about. From the harsh, satisfied smile on Tosh's face, Suzie suspects the soldiers would end up in a facility similar to the one in which Jack had found Tosh a couple of years ago. Suzie goes back to the room to report to Jack.

"Got everything, Jack. Tosh is waiting for the transport van. The Brig said they would be here in fifteen."

"Good," Jack says, though it looks as if he's distracted. Owen still stands over Jones, delicately putting the man back together.

"Is he still alive?" Suzie ask.

Jack shakes his head. "Owen said his heart gave out soon after he arrived. The bastards didn't both to give him anything for the pain. Probably best he's dead though; Owen's not sure what pain killers would do to him."

"So he's alien?" Suzie asks, interested despite herself.

"Don't know. Haven't come across their species before, if he is. Or at least, I don't think I have. He looks human enough."

"Let's hope his coming-back-to-life trick works again," Owen interjects. He looks up from where he has just finished arranging the torn flesh in preparation for stitching. "All his organs look the same as ours. No damage - it looks like they were examining them, or something. I'll stitch him up quickly now. When we get him back to the Hub, I can do a neater, cleaner job. Hopefully, he won't scar."

Suzie reflectively looks at Owen when he began speaking, and in doing so, she has a straight-on view of Jones. She wrinkles her nose at the amount of blood that covers his torso, but at least his insides are no longer on display for all and sundry to view. She squints as she thinks she sees something… crackling - for lack of a better word - over his skin. She edges closer, bending her head to see better. "What in the world?" she mutters.

"Jesus, Suzie! Can I help you?" Owen snaps. "It's not that fascinating."

"Owen, look!" she insists, pointing to the streaks of blue lightening that seem to cover the torso of the man on the table.

"What the fuck?" Owen asks, even as Jack pushes forward to take a look.

Before the three's astonished eyes, the incisions and cuts that had littered Ianto Jones body heal. His torso looks clean, as if he had never been cut open. And even as the last of the lightening disappears, Ianto Jones takes a deep breath, surging upwards as he comes back to life. Even the footage they have seen, does not prepare them for the actuality of the event.

Suzie gapes. This… this just seems bloody amazing. She stares in fascination at the unblemished skin of Jones, while Jack hastens to assure him he's safe. And Suzie understands now, why UNIT thought him alien. To take that much abuse and emerge unmarked? She doesn't know what he is, but he's certainly not human.

III. A Challenge in an alley way…

"Where's Ianto?" Gwen asks. After a difficult week, Jack has all but ordered them to relax by getting a drink at a pub. "Team bonding," he calls it, but Gwen has come to realize it's his way of ensuring they don't forget why they're saving the world. She doesn't mind; it's a nice chance to chat with her teammates without the latest alien threat hanging over their heads.

"He's coming. He just needed to straighten up a few things before leaving," Tosh volunteers. Since Jack's present and accounted for - currently telling Owen about his experience on some planet he visited with the Doctor and Rose - Gwen figures he'll show up sooner, rather than later - or never. As discreet as they are, the whole team is aware of Jack and Ianto's relationship. She smiles softly at that; she thinks it's sweet.

Conversation continues to flow around them, the din of the pub getting comparatively louder as the after-work crowd starts to enter. Gwen finishes the last of her lager and frowns. Ianto's still not here. She turns to Tosh and sees her scanning the entrance, looking for the familiar long-limbed body.

"Do you think he's okay?" she asks. Tosh frowns.

"He would call, if he thought it would take longer than he thought…" Tosh trails off and it's enough to galvanize Gwen into action.

"Jack, Ianto's still not here. I'm going to head back to the Hub, see if he needs help." She's not sure why she's certain he's in trouble, but she is. And, as she gets a glance at Jack, she can see he is as well. He's edgy, his leg jiggling, and his mobile in his hand.

"I'll come with," he volunteers. Gwen nods and rises from her seat.

"I'll give you a ring, Tosh. When we find him," she assures her. Tosh nods, and gives her a smile that is worried; Gwen's pretty sure not all of it's aimed at their missing teammate, since Owen is staying behind as well. She tries to give Tosh an encouraging smile.

"Tea boy's probably just alphabetizing his stationery," Owen protests, but Gwen can still hear the underlying tone of worry underneath his usual harsh statement. Jack, at least, gives Owen a piercing gaze, before a half-smile hits his face.

"_Ianto_," he emphasizes, "said he was just going to finish cleaning up. We'll just hurry him along."

They hit the street, and walk towards the Hub. Gwen notices that Jack seems tense. She supposes it's not that surprising. The last time they had left Ianto to go drinking at the pub, they returned to find a half-converted cyberwoman. She grimaces at the thought, chastising herself for automatically thinking Ianto has some invidious scheme he's planning to unleash on them, just because he's not with them.

"He didn't say he had too much left to do," Jack says abruptly, interrupting her thoughts. "Said he would only be ten minutes behind us."

"Maybe someone called him," she reassures. Her eyes scan the street, hoping they'll meet him on his way to join them. And because she's still Torchwood, she keeps an eye out for Weevils. She frowns as she hears something clanging up ahead. "Hold on, Jack. You hear that?" she asks.

"What?" he responds, forehead furrowing as she interrupts whatever thoughts he had.

"That… that clanging?" she tells him. The street they're on is pretty deserted.

He listens, and after identifying the noise Gwen's heard, takes out his Webley. Gwen follows his lead, takes out her own gun, and follows as he moves towards the sound. They eventually find the source: in a side alley off the main street. Two figures, both male, one huge and hulking, the other, tall and gangly, fighting, yes, but with… swords. "What?" she whispers, her gun dipping down at the incongruous sight.

Jack stands at the mouth of the alley, his mouth dropping open, as they watch the deadly dance. The two men employ different styles, their swords flashing in the night; Gwen doesn't know enough about sword fighting to tell which style they each use, but it's beautiful for all its savagery. The larger one lunges forward, slashing with his blade as the other moves backwards, his sword swiping the other's blade away from his torso. He follows through with a parry, one the other can't block and the sword bites into flesh. Gwen can't bite back the cry of surprise that erupts. It distracts the two men, and they both look to the mouth of the alley.

"Ianto!" Jack calls out in surprise, and Gwen finds to her surprise that it is her erstwhile teammate. She has no idea what he's playing at, but it doesn't look benign.

And then, she doesn't have time to think about the bizarreness of seeing two men _sword-fighting_ in the middle of Cardiff, because the larger one swings his blade at Ianto's unprotected back. "Watch out!" she shouts, her heart pounding, as she desperately tries to find an opening to shoot the man attacking Ianto. Her warning causes Ianto to spin around faster than she thought possible; he moves too slowly and she watches with disbelief as the other's sword bites into his side.

"Stop, or I'll shoot!" Jack warns next to her. The stranger smirks in reaction, licking his lips in a grotesque manner. His lips move - obviously he's telling Ianto something - but Gwen doesn't hear it. Instead, she watches in disbelief as Ianto does _something_, moving faster than she can see, and blocks the guy's next swing. All of a sudden, Ianto is on the offensive, almost as if Jack's words galvanized him. Her heart is pounding - fear, worry, confusion - and then…

Ianto swings his sword in a powerful arc, and the other's head falls to the ground. He turns to face them, his face in shadow, light from the street lamps glinting off his sword. "Don't come any closer," he warns, as mist begins to gather from the now-dead man's body. She doesn't have time to do more than pull Jack back as lightening begins to strike Ianto.

It seems to go on for ages, and she winces with sympathetic pain as Ianto just seems battered by the lightening. Jack trembles, and peeking up at him, she sees concern, and something else.

"Jack?" she questions. He sneaks a quick look at her before returning his attention to Ianto.

"He's Immortal," he says.

"What? Like you?"

He shakes his head. "No. I can't die. Period. He can -if someone takes his head."

She has trouble processing that. "Did you know?"

Again, he shakes his head. "No." And in his voice, she hears the pain in his voice, that Ianto did not trust him with this, did not seek to share Jack's own burden of immortality, did not offer his understanding of what it means to live and live, whilst everyone around you dies. And she _hates_ Ianto in that moment, just a little bit, because everyone at Three knows how much Jack dislikes his inability to die, how much he wishes he didn't have to watch his loved ones grow old, while he remains ever-young.

IV. The Year-That-Never-Was…

Nine months into the Master's reign and his minions finally capture Torchwood-Three. The Master dances around, gloating. As a special treat, he brings Jack to the bridge. He calls the Jones family as well - need to demonstrate what happens to those who oppose his rule, after all. He smiles with mad glee as he drags the Doctor from his tent. "No hiding away!" he taunts. "Look what I have, Freak!" he announces as a pair of guards drag Jack onto the bridge. He loves watching the horror and disbelief in Jack's eyes at the sigh of his team bound and gagged before him. "Isn't this lovely?" he asks. No one answers him, but he doesn't really expect them to do so. "Let's see… How shall I kill them, Jacky-boy?"

The Master waltzes around the table and chairs and prisoners and security before grabbing a gun from a stoic-faced guard and shoots the medic. He's a very good shot, and he crows in triumph as the man topples into the Asian woman. She cringes, tears trickling down her face, and he revels in the power he has, revels in the response Jack gives to him.

"No," he pouts, shaking his head. "That was too fast." He takes a moment to ponder his next move. "Maybe this instead." He aims the gun again and shoots the other woman, the one with that ridiculous gap-toothed smile, in the shoulder. A difficult shot, if only because she kneels before him, bound, her shoulders hunched. It makes it all the more hard for him to make sure the bullet hits her where he wants it to. He can hear her muffled cries through her gag, and laughs. "Such sweet music."

Jack curses, ordering him to stop it, to kill him, to leave his team alone. The Master ignores him, and takes aim once again. Another shot sounds loudly in the room, this time to the opposing shoulder. She whimpers, tears falling down her cheeks. He enjoys this - the sweet sense of pain and despair. He likes the scent of fear, the sound of weeping and begging. Another bullet. This one goes into her right thigh. She lists to the side, and the young man holds her up now. Ten minutes later, a fourth bullet enters her left thigh.

"Where shall I shoot her next, my dear?" he asks Lucy. She sidles up to him, smelling fresh and giddy with excitement; he frowns as her enthusiasm spoils his appreciation of the fear in the room, before dismissing it as unimportant.

Lucy whispers in his ear, suggesting the woman's gut. The Master crows as he does just that. She pitches forward, like a puppet whose strings have been cut. He watches in delight as she dies an agonizingly slow death.

It's enough to sate his bloodlust for the moment, and he sends Jack back to his chains in the furnace room, and the remaining two member to a cell. Tomorrow is another day, after all - no need to spoil his fun.

The Freak's team has annoyed him for months, stirring up rebellion, helping Miss Martha Jones spread her brand of dissent. He will not tolerate it - he is the Master. His actions today made him happy, providing a nice counterpoint to his displeasure with their actions.

He whistles a jaunty tune the rest of the day.

Later, he decides to hold off on executing the remainder of the team. He wants to savor it. Instead, he continues to take out his frustrations and bloodlust on the Freak. Truly, Jack manages to scream so prettily, in rhythm with the drums that echo in the Master's mind.

Time passes, and his troops finally put down the resistance in Africa. He brings out the two remaining members of Torchwood. He smiles and smirks with pleasure as the young male attempts to protect the female. Humans… their actions, so futile, but always, that biological imperative. He idly wonders if he should keep them alive, see how far those evolutionary impulses extended, before decide he didn't want the trouble of actually keeping them alive.

His guards bring Jack to the bridge again, and he obliges the Master by fighting to get free once again, after seeing the other two.

"Please," he begs. The Master smiles. He loves the power he holds. He kneels down next to the once pretty Asian woman, and cups her head with his hand.

"Oh, Freak," he coos. "Did you really think I had forgotten them?" He smirks as Jack struggles in his restraints. Jack surprises him, by actually breaking free, and launching across the room. The Master causally raises his laser screwdriver and fires. Jack spasms a he falls down dead.

"Pick him up," he orders coldly. And this time, make sure he remains restrained." His soldiers gulp nervously, before moving quickly to obey him.

By the time Jack revives (and how he _hates_ how that ape makes him feel. It's almost worse than the drums), the woman is screaming in pain. The Master waltzes Lucy to the sound of her cries, humming as they dance. Few things compare to the nice, slow, painful death induced by Xyloxi poison. He's even magnanimous enough to allow the man to clasp the doomed woman to his chest. His futile reassurances amuse the Master almost as much as the Freak's shouts of hatred and vengeance, and the Doctor's studied indifference.

"And then, there was one," he singsongs, as the woman finally dies. He grins madly as he peers at the sole survivor. This one intrigues him. So very stoic, his eyes free from fear. He's an enigma and a puzzle the Master's determined to crack. And if it hurts Jack, so much the better.

Long ago, the Master learned one of the most effect means of torture, involved carefully slashing minute cuts into the victim, progressively cutting deeper, until the person under the knife dies from the loss of blood. He gleefully presents to Jack the knife he wants to use on the other's skin.

"Isn't it gorgeous?" he asks. "Fulmatrin metal." And he grins as Jack thrashes in his chains. He stalks towards the last of Torchwood-Three, who hangs from chains attached to the ceiling. The Freak begs so very prettily.

"Don't worry… you won't feel a thing!" He giggles. Such a little lie. Fulmatrin metal is sharp enough to make a myriad of cuts, all without pain receptors acknowledging it, until minutes later. Usually people don't collapse from the pain, but rather, from the blood loss. It's perfect for what he has in mind.

He begins small, a cut here, a cut there. Blood soon soaks the man's torso, his legs, his arms. As the man refuses to say a word, just hangs there, the Master grows more and more frustrated. "Damn you! Why won't you _say_ anything?!" he demands. This man is _spoiling_ his fun! No one is allowed to do that.

Not even Jack's pleadings make him happy. He frowns for a moment. "Just who are you?" When his guards had first captured Torchwood-Three, this man had acted as expected: defiant, with fear in his eyes, hoping for a reprieve, but knowing, somehow, that it wouldn't happen. But then, as his captivity had lengthened, he had slowly changed. The woman remained fearful, cringing and crying and relying on him for strength. But he, he had grown stronger, dismissive of his circumstances. And that bothered the Master, more than he wanted to admit.

The man smiled. "No one of import."

It enrages the Master and he begins to cut deeper, and deeper, until the blood runs down the body like a river. He is deaf to the pleas of Jack - not even the Doctor, who has actually broken his usual silence - can interrupt his rage. When he stops, he's vaguely surprised to see the man still alive. He hangs from his chains, muscles trembling from the strain. "I'm bored," the Master hisses. He's annoyed that this… this _ape_ has ruined his fun. He steps away, ignoring the blood that drips down his own hands, that stains his clothes. He takes a look at the Freak, who, despite chained on the opposite side of the room, still strains towards the last of his team. He, at least, reacts in the way the Master wants.

He sighs. "Enough." He takes the knife, its edge still as sharp as ever, and swings it towards the other's neck. The metal slices through the skin, muscle, and bone with ease, and he giggles as the head falls to the ground.

Then he frowns. A strange mist starts to rise from the body. A dim memory comes to the forefront of his mind, and he begins to back up in horror. And then, the Quickening begins and he knows no more. Not even the famed TARDIS can survive the surge and release of centuries of Quickening energy, and the paradox machine is destroyed in the conflagration. In a blink of the eye, time reverses.

To the rest of the world, moments after the British Prime Minister orders the assassination of the American President-elect, the _Valiant_ and all aboard explode in a fiery ball. Martha Jones looks up in horror; her family dead, the Doctor no more. No one ever figures out what exactly caused the explosion, and most don't care. Britain tries to figure out why they voted for Saxon in the first place.

A year later, a discreet and exclusive law firm delivers to a select group of people, including one Dr. Daniel Jackson, one Dr. Adam Pierson, and the Society of Watchers, a mysterious bequest. Daniel fingers the envelope detailing his inheritance and closes his eyes in pain with the newfound knowledge that his teacher has died.

V. … and one time they don't.

After Owen and Tosh have died, and after the Earth is stolen, and returned, and after Jack finally recruits more agents for Torchwood, Ianto takes stock of his life. Torchwood-Three hums in a way it hasn't for months; Jack gleefully taking up the challenge to train the new agents with Gwen's help. Ianto still runs the administrative side of Torchwood, providing general support to everyone. The Rift still deposits the universe's detritus in Cardiff; Jack still flirts with anything that moves; Gwen still looks at Jack with big eyes, and goes home to Rhys. And Ianto… Well, he's tired.

Four years with Torchwood, a mere blink in the eye for an Immortal like him, but a very difficult four years. Surviving Canary Wharf, having to take Lise's head after her partial conversion, almost losing his own head to a bunch of cannibals, having the secret of his Immortality nearly revealed dozens of times, losing Tosh and Owen to Jack's brother… He wants peace, and Torchwood will not allow him that.

He gently trails a hand along the Tourist Office's desk, his eyes distant as he considers the reactions of the others in the morning. He had not taken his decision to leave lightly - had in fact questioned it nearly every day since making it. Finally though, he had realized he had had enough. Time to go.

And so, quietly, as he done thousands of times in his long life, he creates a new identity, a new person to become. He arranges for one of his myriad homes to be reopened, ready for the great-grandson of the man he had been last time he had lived there. He ships or places into storage under different aliases the belongings he actually cares about; hides a copy of his journals in the Torchwood archives - he figures they will be safe there in case he ever needs them.

His last day at Torchwood begins and ends like any other day at Torchwood. Jack wakes him up with a kiss and some nice morning sex. They rush off to Torchwood after a Rift alert goes off. Jack leads the team to the location, while Ianto coordinates. The team makes it back in time for lunch and then Ianto disappears to the archives for the remainder of the day. He wants to make sure that his journals remain unnoticed among the alien artifacts and Torchwood files that he's painstakingly taken care of these last couple of years. Also, pride makes him ensure that whoever takes his place as archivist will have nothing to complain about.

When it's time for him to leave, he takes one last look at the Hub, fixing it in his mind. He doesn't know if it is a good thing that the team got called out on another Rift alarm. One of the new agents is coordinating this time, and Ianto waves goodbye, before leaving. A part of him regrets that Jack isn't there, but the part that has survived for centuries acknowledges that it's for the best. Easier to disappear as he planned without Jack around.

He arrives at his flat, and quickly gathers the last of his belongings that he plans to take with him. He carefully props the letters he's written for Jack and Gwen on his table, ready for them to see when they come to search for him. He smiles ruefully as he takes one last turn through the flat. He'll miss it, will miss the team, and Gwen, and Jack.

It's time to go, to forge a new life. Maybe he'll return, someday. Maybe he'll find Jack again, and maybe this time, Jack will be comfortable with his immortality.

Ianto Jones walks out of his flat without a backwards glance. There is no time for regrets.

_The whole life of man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it._


End file.
